Hla Thoaiching Marma, Program Manager of the School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (SLASS) of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), presented his research on the revival and indigenous language the First Annual Conference on Indigenous Knowledge. 

At the conference, organized by the Indigenous Peoples’ Center (IPC) of the Asian University for Women (AUW) at the Cultural Institute of Minority Ethnic Group in Khagrachhari on April 10-11, 2026, Hla Thoaiching, who represented IUB’s Sasheen Center for Multilingual Excellence (SCMLE), also chaired a session. 

His paper focused on the revival of indigenous language under an ongoing collaborative initiative, while the academic session he chaired focused on cultural preservation and integration of indigenous knowledge into research and education.  

As part of the engagement, he also took part in a field visit to a community forest (Village Common Forest/Mouza Bon) and the Alutila Tourist Cave Park to examine local conservation practices. 

The conference featured government officials, traditional leaders, academics, researchers, and artists from Bangladesh and the broader South Asia region. Sessions covered topics such as indigenous knowledge systems, multilingual education, environmental practices, gender diversity, and community-based knowledge. 